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Subject: TIP:PdoxWin:Runtime Installation Using InstallShield:2000.01.18 Alternate installations for Paradox Runtime. Version 1.2 (2000.01.18) Repost by Mike Irwin: 2001.02.10 ==================== 0. Introduction ==================== This paper describes how to install the paradox runtime using InstallShield Express. It is based on the experiences of the author only. Use of this information and application is at your own risk. This document assumes some basic knowledge of InstallShield Express. If you have problems with the content of this document, please inform either party mentioned below. Author and Originator: Jack Wasserstein, D.D.S. WasserSoft Development 23206 Lyons Ave. #212 Newhall, CA 91321-2672 Voice (661) 254-8769 Fax (661) 254-8669 email Support@WasserSoft.Com www.wassersoft.com Editor: Michael Irwin [CTech] michealirwin@home.com ------------------------------- 0.1 Legal Info and Disclaimers ------------------------------- Paradox is a trademark of Corel. Borland Database Engine (BDE) is a trademark of Inprise. InstallShield and InstallShield Express are trademarks of InstallShield Software Corp. The information provided in this document is provided "as is" and is not warranted in any way. It is not endorsed or authorized by Corel or Inprise in any shape, form, or manner. The editors claim NO responsibility for ANY illegal activity regarding this file, or as a result of someone reading this file. You may distribute this file, as long as the copies are complete, unaltered, and are in electronic form only. ------------- 0.2 Feedback ------------- Note: The NewsGroup and EMail software sometimes combine to remove blank lines from listings, which can mean that queries and SQL code will not run unless you replace the blank lines ! Please send general feedback in any Corel Paradox newsgroup or the news:comp.databases.Paradox newsgroup to any of the FAQ Team mentioned in the "FAQ: FAQ FAQ" document. Please preface the subject of your post with the string "PDXWIN TIP" to alert Team members to the function of the message. Please specify the TIP name and section number the comment applies to, if any. ======================================= ----------------- 1.1 Introduction ----------------- This paper describes how to do an alternate installation of the Paradox Runtime v9 using InstallShield Express v2.04. I am posting this, because of the numerous requests I have gotten in the past for this script, when I have responded to postings of this nature. There is also an attachment to this file, which is a sample InstallShield script for installing the Runtime and BDE. The reg files to merge are not included with the sample, but they are already on your computer if you have the runtime installed. Some considerations for needing this technique are as follows: 1. Gives you much greater control over your installation. 2. Allows you to install the runtime in an alternate location. 3. Allows you to create program groups shortcuts with icons as well as place icons on the end user’s desktop. 4. Allows for different types of distribution media. 5. Allows for a standardized look and feel for a typical Windows installation. 6. Allows you to create group properties for file replacement on the end user’s system, rather than having to specify it for each individual file. At one time, InstallShield had a Paradox object for these installations, which made installing the runtime very easy. For whatever reason, they never updated the object past Paradox 7 and thus it is not useful for version 9. However, this script is adapted from the previous 7 object. This script begins as a Delphi 4 project, which is necessary to install the BDE and create your database aliases. It also has ODBC, SQL-Links etc. You create groups for the Paradox Runtime 9 files and directories. You need to modify the RParadox.reg and ROnDmnd9.reg files and use them to merge into the end user’s registry to make it aware of the runtime and writing tools. There are some Active X components that are automatically set to self register upon installation. There are some Microsoft foundation class DLL’s and ODBC drivers that need to be added. Lastly your own files need to be installed. Here are the groups and files in more detail. A sample application has been included for this script. ----------------- Configuring the BDE ----------------- IntallShield will install the BDE on the end user’s computer. In addition, for the app with this script, I am having it create an alias, P9Hello which will point to the installation directory that the end user installs to. I can use the variable <INSTALLDIR> for this. You can use BDE 5.0x-5.1. ----------------- Groups and Files ----------------- Below are the file groups that you will need to complete the installation. For the components section in InstallShield I typically create 3 components which are BDE, Runtime, and App files. BDE contains BDE files, Runtime contains the Paradox 9 Runtime files and App contains my forms reports tables etc. ----------------- BDE/IDAPI Files: This group is created by InstallShield when you create your project. It contains the core BDE DLLs. ----------------- BDE/IDAPI: cnf file: This group is also created by InstallShield and is for configuring the BDE. ----------------- Paradox Program: Create this group. This group should contain all of the files in your Paradox 9 Runtime\Programs folder. It contains the core program files for the runtime engine. Set the target platform to all, (set this way by default) and File update method should be set to Update files with newer version numbers. There are two files in this folder which need to be registered, PFPi90.pfc and Pfit90.dll. Inspect the properties on these files, and check the box Allow Express to self register this file. The files in this group should be installed into a folder called Programs which is a subdirectory of Paradox 9 Runtime. In this application, we are setting the installation path to <ProgramFilesDir>\Corel\Paradox 9 Runtime\Programs However, you can install it to where ever you want. Just be sure to adjust your reg files to reflect the installation path. ----------------- Paradox Config: Create this directory, it contains info about tool bars. The default installation directory is: [Paradox Program]\config Note the use of Brackets instead of angled brackets. ----------------- Paradox Writing Tools: Create this group. This group should contain all of the files in your Shared\Writing Tools\9.0 folder. I believe this is where the spell checker etc lives. If you are not using this functionality in your app, then this folder is optional. The files should be reinstalled to a folder of the same name on the end user ’s machine, preferably program files\Corel. InstallShield will also attempt to self register some files in this directory, which will result in an error message during installation. I have unchecked these for our installations. The default installation directory for this application is: <ProgramFilesDir>\Corel\Shared\Writing Tools\9.0 ----------------- Redistribution: Create this group. This group should contain all of the files in found in your PDE\config\redist folder. The target folder is the end user’s system directory, or <winsys> directory. The latter is the Installshield variable for the windows system directory. The File update method for this group should be set to Update files with newer version numbers. ----------------- Application forms: Create groups for your own files, and adjust their file update properties accordingly. Currently it contains the sample script and form for the sample application. ----------------- Application Data: Create groups for your own files, and adjust their file update properties accordingly. Currently it contains the sample table for the sample application. ----------------- Select user interface: Use this section to specify your default folder, license agreement. Etc. ----------------- Making Registry Changes: This is where you can add your reg files to be merged into your end user’s registry. Corel conveniently provides two template files for this process, Rparadox.reg and ROnDmnd9.reg. You can find them in Paradox 9 Runtime\Config\Regfiles. If you are changing the installation path for the runtime, then you need to adjust the settings within these files. Right mouse click on these files and edit them accordingly. There are instructions within these files as well. These files are the key to installing the runtime in an alternate destination. The physical files must be included in one of the file groups above. I have placed them in Application Forms. Sample reg files are included in the P9HelloWorld directory. ----------------- Specifying Folders and Icons: You can create your shortcuts here as well as specify where to place them. When adding command line parameters if you are going to use -w make sure you enclose what follows in quotes, for example -w "[Application Forms]" ----------------- Tips and tricks: ----------------- This script was written with the runtime and BDE installed in their native directories: Thus you can use this script and just modify your Application files. And database aliases. I have noted occasional corruption of installshield scripts when modifying database aliases that have already been created. So, always have a back up copy of this script to refer to if you need to create one from scratch. It should only take about 20 minutes to do this script from scratch. Always test your app on different target platforms before deploying. Corel includes a program pfreg.exe in the programs directory. This program will be useful for your end users in the event that InstallShield does not successfully register some of the active X components. As part of your installation, you might consider including a directory on your CD called runtime. You can place the Corel runtime installation files in this subdirectory. Copy these files from your developers edition, but only the runtime subdirectory. In the event that your installation does not go as planned, you can have the end user run this installation as a back up. Note that if you plan on installing the runtime to an alternate location, then also include your Rparadox.reg and ROnDmnd9.reg files in the directory as well. Have your enduser merge these reg files prior to using the Corel installation. This will force the Corel Installer to install to your desired destination. This is also why I like to break the installation components into Runtime, BDE and Application files. You can do a manual installation if necessary. The BDE installation will not work if your end user is running a BDE application at the time of installation, so warn them about that in your installation instructions. ----------------- About the sample Application: ----------------- This script will install a sample Paradox 9 application called Hello World. The installed shortcut will launch the runtime with the working directory set to the installation directory. The default is c:\program files\P9HelloWorld It will also launch the startup script, startup.ssl. This script creates a second alias, P9DATA, looks in that alias for a table, Hello.db, and gets a string out of the table. A form is launched and the Scrolling Text Box on the screen displays the mystery string. The actual runtime and BDE are not included with this script, but the support files for the sample application are. To test this install script, as is, the runtime, and BDE must be installed to their native locations. Note that the BDE should reside in c:\program files\common files\borland\shared\bde This may vary on your system, but the script will look to those locations to build the installation. The application files need to be installed in c:\program files\P9hello and c:\program files\P9Hello\data If not, just change the paths in the script to reflect where the actual files are.sample.exe Paradox Community Newsgroups |
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